Dead in the water...

My computer died a very sudden death last week...it had been complaining a bit, but not enough for me to know the disease was fatal. Of course, my three-year-old nephew may have helped matters along by shutting the power off at the source a few times (Lesson learned: Never have your computer plugged into a socket attached to a wall switch even if you live alone and would never think of flipping that switch yourself. Three-year-olds happen. They love buttons. Disaster will follow.)

Poor Tim was in the last stages of perfecting a two page science assignment which included paragraphs, charts and tables when the computer froze and nothing would work to get it going again. Our only option was an incorrect shut down from which my machine never recovered and Tim lost all his homework....disaster.

So, it's been very quiet at my house. I never realized the magnitude of the computer hum. Or it's use as a night light. It must have drowned out the creaks of the old house because I hear all of them now. And the friendly glow that guided me to the bathroom in the middle of the night now comes from....the bathroom...not the monitor on my computer desk.

My computer chair is getting a well deserved respite and the recliner is making complaining noises from overuse. I've zipped through three books in the last few days, granted they were fairly easy reading, but the point is my attention was not distracted by hopping up to the computer to check something out I just thought of or remembering a blog I wanted to read, or checking out the latest game on BigFish.

What will happen? Who knows. Our last hope is to see if we can reformat the hard drive and start over. If that fails I will be saving my pennies for a new one. Thank goodness I have access to a computer at work or I am sure I would be suffering from horrendous withdrawals. Se la vie.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is Mother's Birthday....76 years young. Happy Day Mom!

Birthday Dinner with Tim

We had a great time last night celebrating Tim's birthday. I opted for the Cajun Chicken pasta (I know, I know...it was not seafood) and it was awesome. The only thing was there was way too much of it after the Caesar salad and a few yummy garlic cheese biscuits so I brought home left overs...yahoo! Tim seemed very happy with his Shrimp Linguini. Ryan chose another of my favorites..the coconut shrimp...YUM! I just had to steal one!

Happy Birthday Tim!

Today is Timothy's 14th birthday. I am so proud of the wonderful young man he has become. I wish him all the best for his day. Tim, Ryan, Sara and I will be dining at the Red Lobster this evening in his honor.

Saturday Shopping Report

Our Saturday shopping trip was very rewarding this week. It seemed like we would be thwarted in our efforts because the Whole Foods store we went to visit has not actually opened as of yet. We found construction workers busily working on the site so there is hope it might be open soon.

Not to be daunted, we hit Trader Joes again and found goodies, goodies and more goodies. My English Breakfast Tea and Earl Grey at a much lower price than the Bigelow brand I normally buy at the grocery store. I was out of butter so I decided to try the "Irish Butter" to see how it stands up to Land of Lakes or Tilamook brands...I'll let you know. I picked up more pot stickers from the frozen food section...we so enjoyed those last week...and a crustless bacon and spinach quiche that I can't wait to try.

On to Henry's Produce...I noticed an ad this week that their Ruby Red Grapefruit was on sale for 25 cents each! That was a huge bargain as I have seen them in my grocer for $1.69 each. I know they are in season, but still...a great buy and I do love those Ruby Reds. On Saturday I picked up a few just to make sure they were good tasting and OMG! they were awesome. (So today I headed back to Henry's and picked up 8 more.)

My son had spent all his shopping time and needed to go have Valentines Day with the wifey so I hugged him goodbye and wished him a happy day. As soon as he was gone I hopped back in the car and headed for Fresh & Easy. I wanted some more of their lovely fresh broccoli soup. I picked up some Tomato Basil soup as well, I have heard that it is very good, and some more whole grain mustard (yum) and headed for the DIY check out.

Believe it or not, I am spending less than usual and the larder is not boring anymore! Instead of going to the freezer/refrigerator/cupboard and saying what is there to eat I am now having to choose between what is going to perish first if I don't use it and what will last for a while. Much more rewarding.

I tell you I was almost skipping today when I left Henry's with my eight grapefruit and a package of snap pea crisps for $2.69!